company:putin

Pourquoi Israël (et le lobby pro-Israël aux Etats-Unis) défend MBS

Why we should go easy on the Saudi crown prince

For 50 years we’ve prayed for a key Arab leader who agrees to sign a significant pact with Israel. Such a leader has finally arrived

Tzvia Greenfield
Oct 22, 2018 1:48 AM

▻https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-why-we-should-go-easy-on-the-saudi-crown-prince-1.6576593

Turkey, a human rights champion under Erdogan, is accusing Saudi Arabia, another human rights champion, of the abhorrent murder of a Saudi journalist who entered the lion’s den in Istanbul and, as befits horror stories typical of places like Syria China, Iran, Russia and North Korea, disappeared from sight. Now we have recordings and videotapes, allegedly from the Saudi consulate, suggesting that his body was chopped into pieces.
The underlying reason for this gruesome act, that evokes something conjured up by the Coen brothers, is not completely clear. One shouldn’t treat any death lightly, particularly not a murder committed by an evil government. However, because of the political ramifications involved, it’s worth contemplating this episode a bit more.
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It’s possible that just like Putin, the Saudi royal house cannot tolerate any criticism, which is why it decided to eliminate the rogue journalist in an acid bath (a no less likely possibility that has not yet been suggested by the authorities in Ankara). It’s possible that Recep Tayyip Erdogan is gnashing his teeth over Saudi Arabia’s bolstered global status, particularly vis-à-vis U.S. President Donald Trump, and over the central role played by Mohammed bin Salman in a regional coalition meant to block Iranian influence in the Middle East — which is why Erdogan is bent on deflating the Crown Prince’s image.
Erdogan may want to humiliate the Saudis, but his main goal is foiling the plan apparently devised by Trump and Mohammed to forge a regional alliance under the aegis of the United States, an alliance that includes Israel, the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt (and possibly Iraq). These countries will jointly try to block Iran, which endangers all of them. Turkey, which is struggling to find an as-yet-undetermined place within the Arab Muslim world, does not strive merely to lead the Sunni world. It also wants to depict Israel as a foreign colonialist implant in the Middle East. Any legitimization afforded Israel thanks to an alliance with Arab states has negative implications for Erdogan.
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>> Why are some pro-Israel voices speaking out against Jamal Khashoggi? | Explained ■ Saudi Arabia, reeling from Khashoggi scandal, battles a new front: Arab media | Analysis
But fate obviously has a sense of humor. It has embroiled the Turkish rivalry with Saudi Arabia in the U.S. midterm elections. Since Mohammed is currently Trump’s most important international ally, mainly for economic reasons, the campaign advocating a “liberal order,” espoused by international media assailing the Saudi leader, is buzzing with excitement. Its main objective is not the brushing aside of Saudi Arabia, but the delivery of a humiliating knockout blow to Trump and his economic plans.

According to Time magazine, the level of public support for Trump remains stable at 43 percent, similar to that of Obama, Clinton and Reagan at comparative phases in their terms. It’s no wonder that after the failed attacks on Trump, who immerged unscathed from the intimidation of migrant children, the Stormy Daniels saga and the attempt to prevent the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, the left is eager to pounce on the Saudi murder case as if it has found a treasure trove.
However, this time it’s necessary to treat the suspect with kid gloves. Trump’s peace initiative, if it is ever put on the table, is apparently the direct result of pressure by Mohammed bin Salman, who wishes to legitimize Israel before embarking on open cooperation with it. For 50 years we’ve prayed for a key Arab leader who agrees to sign a significant pact with Israel. Such a leader has finally arrived, and calls to depose him, such as those by former U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro in an op-ed in Haaretz (October 21) are destructive and in keeping with the best Obama tradition. Anyone waiting for a world of the purely just will have to struggle all his life with the purely evil.

Tzvia Greenfield

New U.S.-Russia-Saudi oil alliance could also have implications for Israel and Iran

A reported deal between Putin and the Saudi crown prince means they will have members of OPEC over a barrel when they meet in Vienna this weekend – but Jerusalem will be an interested spectator as well

Anshel PfefferSendSend me email alerts
Jun 20, 2018

▻https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-u-s-russia-saudi-oil-alliance-could-affect-israel-iran-too-1.61968

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman didn’t look like someone whose national team was losing 5-0 to Russia last Thursday. The broad smiles as he sat beside Russian President Vladimir Putin in the VIP box at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium indicated the opening match of the World Cup was just an excuse for their meeting.
According to briefings by Russian officials after the crown prince had left Moscow, he and Putin had agreed on a joint policy worth more than any sports trophy.
The two governments – also two of the world’s major energy producers – had reportedly agreed to “institutionalize” the relationship between Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Does this include all the OPEC members who are meeting in Vienna on Friday? Almost certainly not.
OPEC exists in theory to ensure its members’ market share of the global energy market and to try and boost oil prices, ensuring their major source of income remains lucrative. But it depends on consensus and coordination between the members. And geopolitics can intrude – in this case, the deepening enmity between two of the major oil producers: the Saudis and Iran.
In 2016, following a prolonged dip in oil prices (which saw the price of a barrel of crude drop to below $30), OPEC’s 14 members – along with OPEC Plus, a second group of associated nations, including Russia – agreed to cut back production. Along with the rise in global financial activity, this has gradually pushed oil prices back to over $70 a barrel.
Now, though, some nations – led by the Saudis and Russia – are calling for an increase in production. They are losing market share to U.S. shale oil producers and argue that, since demand is currently high, putting more oil on the market will not dramatically affect prices. They calculate that any dip in prices will be offset by the increase in production.
But not all OPEC members are capable of boosting production.
Iran, about to come under stiff new sanctions from the Trump administration, is already losing orders worth hundreds of thousands of barrels. In Venezuela, production is already plummeting due to political turmoil and the economic meltdown under the Maduro government, which also faces U.S. sanctions. For both countries, lower oil prices will only compound their financial woes.

Slik jobbet Aftenposten med « Panama Papers » - NRK Kultur og underholdning - Nyheter og aktuelt stoff

▻http://www.nrk.no/kultur/slik-jobbet-aftenposten-med-_panama-papers_-1.12884033

Donc finalement, Aftenposten, partenaire norvégien des #Panamapapers fera aussi putassier que les autres journaux dont un célèbre quotidien du soir français de référence : ils distilleront un nom ou une info tous les soirs à 20:00 :) pendant X jours. Ils font donc ce qu’un autre journaliste de télé dégoûté m’a dit aujourd’hui : "leurs petits business". Et c’est bien ça le risque : avoir le "privilège" d’être choisi comme partenaire d’un truc aussi énorme et faire de la rétention d’info, entretenir artificiellement le suspens. En gros, un truc bien marketing. Un suplice au compte-goutte.

#indigne et #naufrage_de_la_presse

https://gfx.nrk.no/0C6uNw3ikrUMwbYXAI5LtgxwofDXSozaeM2cBEIyjFxA.jpg

Klokken 20.00 søndag begynte Aftenposten, i samarbeid med journalister fra hele verden, utrullingen av det som ser ut til å være tidenes største dokumentlekkasje.

La stupidité du Putin-bashing, par un anti-Poutine
▻http://www.dedefensa.org/article-la_stupidit_du_putin-bashing_par_un_anti-poutine_19_11_2014.html

@TITREBREVE = La stupidité du Putin-bashing, par un anti-Poutine Brisbane nous aura produit un certain nombre de leçons importantes, que nous commençons à décompter et à méditer. Outre l’apparition du “Mal” sous la figure de l’impromptu Iago, il y eut la démonstration de la suprême stupidité du bloc BAO dans son entreprise de Putin-bashing, que nous pourrions baptiser, pour la mettre au niveau

Magomedsalam Magomedov’s Mark Twain Moment
▻http://www.rferl.org/content/magomedov-political-fate-daghestan/24885835.html

Après diverses vicissitudes, dont — bien sûr — des fuites sur Twitter, Vladimir V. Poutine a viré Magomedsalam Magomedalievitch Magomedov, président du Daghestan.

Officiellement, il aurait démissionné mais la version officielle n’a pas l’air encore très stable. Il avait été convoqué au Kremlin, suscitant un mouvement en sa faveur au parlement daghestanais.

Just hours earlier, the majority of Daghestan’s parliament deputies and district administrators had gathered in Makhachkala with the intention of convening an emergency session of parliament and adopting a formal statement affirming their collective support for him. They were dissuaded from doing so by a senior North Caucasus Federal District official who conveyed a personal message from Magomedov asking them not to rock the boat but to trust in Putin’s judgment.

Les raisons de ce limogeage sont tout aussi peu transparentes.

Analysts have suggested two possible explanations for what happened. First, that the decision to dismiss Magomedov was taken by Putin personally, with no input from other political players, and was prompted either by the admittedly volatile situation in Daghestan or by Magomedov’s personnel failings and errors of judgment. “Chernovik” cited an eye-wateringly extravagant New Year’s party in Dubai’s most exclusive hotel and Magomedov’s public rejection of Putin’s proposal to deprive the North Caucasus republics of the right to hold elections for the post of republic head as possible contributing factors.

Second, the initiative originated with one or another of the most influential Moscow-based Daghestani oligarchs, Suleiman Kerimov, or the brothers Ziyaudin and Magomed Magomedov. (They are Avars, and thus not related to Magomedsalam, who is a Dargin. Kerimov is a Lezgin.) Both Kerimov and the Magomedov brothers are believed to bear a grudge against Magomedov.

Entre « fête fastueuse »à Dubaï, expression publique d’un désaccord avec V. V. Poutine ou résultat d’une lutte de clans d’oligarques, que retenir ? On mentionne aussi le peu de résultat contre le terrorisme islamique.

Son successeur par interim, Ramazan Gadzhimuradovich Abdulatipov, un Avar comme les oligarques ennemis de Magomedov, un Darguine, a récemment déclaré dans un entretien que les trois principaux problèmes du Daghestan sont :

In a recent interview, Abdulatipov listed as the three most serious problems Daghestan faces security — meaning the ongoing battle against the Islamic insurgency —, unemployment, and restoring public trust in the authorities.

Ce qui précède vient de RFERL (Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty). Les versions plus « locales » :

Vestnik Kavkaza ▻http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/36364.html

Today Vladimir Putin has replaced Dagestani leader Magomedsalam Magomedov with Ramazan Abdulatipov, a member of the United Russia Party and deputy head of the parliamentary committee for federal organization and local autonomies, as the acting leader of Dagestan. Magomedov is appointed the deputy head of the Russian Presidential Administration.

According to the official version, it was Magomedov’s decision to resign. Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov says that the issues which Magomedov will control in the presidential administration will be defined in the nearest future. “At the moment amendments to the current distribution of duties haven’t been made. It will happen in a few days,” Peskov said.

Magomedov’s press secretary Rasul Khaybullayev said this morning that Magomedov was working according to schedule.

(…)

Ramzan Abdulatipov was the Minister for National Policy and Vice Premier in the 1990s. He leaked information on Saturday that he would be appointed by Putin. As for whether his new position is temporary or permanent, Vlasov noted: “It depends on unofficial talks between the Kremlin and significant people of Dagestan. I don’t think the appointment will be made without consideration of the internal political situation in the republic. Abdulatipov’s chances to remain at the position of Dagestan’s head are significant. The situation in the republic is complicated, and nobody will appoint aliens to this position.

Pour le Moscow Times ▻http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-ousts-dagestan-leader-magomedov/474660.html l’intéressé se fait une haute idée de ses capacités :

In an interview with Business FM radio Thursday, Abdulatipov talked up his credentials for the leadership post, saying that “few besides me would be able to bring stability to Dagestan.”

(cité également dans le premier article)

Mais son chemin n’est pas pavé de roses :

But a reporter with the independent local newspaper Chernovik suggested that Abdulatipov was unlikely to keep the post for long. “The Kremlin likely settled on Abdulatipov as a transitional candidate known for being old-fashioned and a statist,” the reporter said, requesting anonymity in order to speak freely.

Kisriyev, from the Academy of Sciences, echoed these thoughts, predicting that Abdulatipov would find it hard to garner support and that he would be viewed as an outsider.

“Abdulatipov has never held a political post in Dagestan and never led a large-scale government structure. He has never had to fight for his legitimacy,” Kisriyev said.

“What’s more, he is detached from the clans that have formed in Dagestan over the past 20 years. Officials in Moscow could have thought that someone from outside the clans would have greater freedom to act, but that’s not how it works. These clans determine the politics of the republic.”

Beyond internal difficulties, Kisriyev said, Abdulatipov will have to deal with Kremlin incompetency if he were to win popular backing and effect a tangible improvement in regional security.

“Dagestan’s greatest problem is the incompetence of the country’s leadership in Moscow, which controls the republic with presidential decrees and countless demands,” he said.

“There are huge financial interests at stake and complex ethnic boundaries. If Abdulatipov experiences the same incompetent attitude, he won’t achieve anything.”